Walking the Transformative Spiritual Path

"Christian spirituality is taking on the mind and heart of Christ as we recognize Christ as the deepest truth of our being. It is actualizing the Christ who is in us. It is becoming fully and deeply human. It is experiencing and responding to the world through the mind and heart of God as we align ourselves with God's transformational agenda of making all things new in Christ. It is participating in the very life of God." — David. G. Benner

The spiritual journey is one of transformation and awakening. We are aware that the self that begins the spiritual journey is not the same as the one that ends it—with changes in identity, life experience, and capacity for love.

What you'll find in The Spiritual Journey trilogy:

• Surrender to Love—Move beyond mere obedience to surrender in an authentic, intimate relationship with God.
• The Gift of Being Yourself—Discover your true identity and purpose in Christ.
• Desiring God's Will—Learn how to align your desires and actions to what God wants for you, leading to spiritual health, joy, and freedom.

Benner's The Spiritual Journey trilogy describes the foundational Christian practice of surrender; how this practice emerges as a response to Perfect Love; and the changes this produces in our identity, will, and deepest desires. Each of the three best-selling books focuses on one of these strands while interweaving it with the others. Together they serve as a manual for walking the spiritual path as God's heart and mind slowly but truly become our own.

Praise for the Trilogy

"In contrast to other books filled with drive-through pop psychology and sound-bite spirituality, Benner, a psychologist and spiritual director, offers an impressively deep and challenging introduction to Christian self-discovery..." 

—Publishers Weekly Starred Review, January 2004

"Surrender to Love by David Benner is one of my favorite spiritual books, so much so that it is an assigned text in our Transforming Community experience. With the addition of an excellent study guide, it becomes an even more effective tool for spiritual transformation."

—Ruth Haley Barton, founder, Transforming Center

"My favorite David G. Benner books are his trilogy: Surrender to Love, The Gift of Being Yourself and Desiring God's Will—and my preferred among these favorites is Surrender to Love. It was written in a very brief period of time and its long shelf life attests to the author's burst of inspiration. It is about the difference between white-knuckled obedience versus warm-hearted surrender in our attempts to live God's love."

—Gary W. Moon, founding Executive Director of the Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and the Dallas Willard Center

"David Benner never disappoints. He is intelligent without being academic, psychologically astute without being trendy, spiritually profound without being pious. He clearly knows the landscape from which he dares to speak."

—Richard Rohr, OFM, Center for Action and Contemplation